Through the years a great number of dental drill designs and improvements have been provided by those skilled in the art to reduce patient pain and improve the quality of dental work. One of the most substantial and far reaching of such improvements is the development of the new turbine-type high speed dental drills. While the structures of such high speed dental drills have undergone some change and variation, all generally include an elongated holder which supports a rotatable chuck and an internal turbine wheel. Passages within the holder are coupled to a source of high pressure air or water and are structured to direct pressurized air or water at the turbine thereby rotating the chuck at high speed. The chuck removably supports interchangeable dental drill bits generally known in the art as "burrs". Such dental burrs are produced in a variety of shapes and sizes but generally all include a common sized cylindrical shank adapted to be interchangeably received within the drill chuck together with tapered extensions which terminate in a small cutting end. The cutting ends of the dental burrs are produced in a variety of shapes such as spherical, elongated, cylindrical, or otherwise.
Because dental burrs are capable of repeated use on successive patients, they must be cleaned and sanitized repeatedly and frequently. Most common among the cleaning processes employed involves the sanitizing of the drill burrs within an autoclave or similar device. Autoclaves provide a high temperature cleansing environment in which the dental burrs are subjected to extremely high temperatures selected to be sufficient to destroy any existing bacteria or organisms otherwise present on the dental burrs. Since dental burrs are expensive and often delicate, great care must be taken to avoid damaging them during the cleaning and sanitizing operation and during the periods of handling, storing and use. Of particular concern in avoiding damage to the dental burrs is the protection of the delicate cutting ends thereof.
The general need to secure and protect such dental burrs and similar objects during cleansing, handling, storing, and use has prompted practitioners in the art to provide a number of different storage and support structures for such objects.
One such structure is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,170 issued to Miller which sets forth a TEST TUBE RACK in which a generally rectangular support structure includes a frame having parallel side supports, a bottom support, and a pair of laterally extending cross members. Each of the cross members define a plurality of holes adapted to receive and retain conventional test tubes within the frame. A pair of pivotally secured handle members are attached to the frame side portions and are rotatable to outwardly extending support positions and alternatively to closed positions captivating the test tubes within the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,862 issued to Knox sets forth a DENTAL BURR TOOL BLOCK in which a housing defines a plurality of bore openings for receiving and storing a variety of dental burr tools. A reservoir compartment defined within the block is capable of supporting a volume of disinfectant fluid and a drain hole in the reservoir compartment permits removal of the disinfectant fluid. A separate compartment within the burr tool block receives and supports a burr changer tool. A protective covering formed of a transparent material is pivotally secured to the burr tool block to provide a dust cover enclosure for the dental burrs.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,584,721 issued to Linneman sets forth a CASE WITH SPRING-URGED PIVOTED SLIDING CLOSURE in which a vertically oriented support base defines a plurality of vertical bores adapted to receive a plurality of elongated objects such as drills. A pair of covering members provide a claw-like closure for the vertical housing which is alternately positionable in a closed position above the housing captivating and enclosing the drill bits and an open position in which the members are forced downwardly and are opened to rest on either side of the housing and provide open access to the supported drill bit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,035 issued to Metzler, et al. sets forth a RECEPTACLE WITH HINGED CLOSURE FLAPS in which a receptacle for storing long articles includes a generally rectangular container having article receiving openings at one end. A pair of hinged cover flaps are pivotally secured to the housing and are alternatively positionable in a closed position in which the closure flaps enclose and captivate the article receiving openings and an open end in which the closure flaps are locked open providing access to the receptacle.